The issues of Organism of Revelation and Organs of Ethical Knowledge made important impressions on me while reading The Doctrine of the Christian Life by John M. Frame. As God’s image, humans have a fundamental ethical responsibility to imitate God. However, the issue of Organs of Ethical Knowledge really sparked the most significant impression.
The mental capacities play an important role in ethical thought and action. The whole person – reason, emotion, conscience, imagination, will, and so forth – all work together and makes ethical decisions. I agree with Professor Frame that all of these faculties are “perspective on one another and on the whole person.” Conscience, intellect, experience, emotion, imagination and so forth are perspectives on the moral decision of the whole person.
In general, the heart is the “center” of all human’s being. The heart is the chief organ of moral knowledge, our moral will, and our desire to obey God. Even more, the heart is what God sees and governs the fundamental direction of human life. God places His knowledge and obedience inside the human heart and they nourish one another.
Nonetheless, all of our human faculties such as emotion, intellect, and heart are fallen and must be redeemed by God’s grace. Un-regenerated human organs are quite different from regenerated ones. Un-regenerated humans have a natural bent or disposition toward evil and wickedness. Through the Holy Spirit and the saving grace of Jesus Christ, God gives humans a new disposition, so that we feel different and our emotions, heart, intellect, will and so forth now belong to God. Only by God’s grace can humans use their whole person to make right ethical decisions. Our organs – conscience, intellect, experience, emotion, imagination and so forth – are perspectives on the moral decisions of the whole person. As Professor Frame noted, these faculties have a hermeneutical component because they discover and express meaning in the situations of life.
Moreover, all the human organs – will, intellect, emotions and so forth – play a positive role in the Christian life and ethics. The Scriptures appeals to all aspects of our personality, including the mind, will, and emotions (see e.g., Ezekiel 33:11; Psalm 42:1-6). Many great people of the Scriptures, including the apostle Paul, the apostle John, and even Jesus Christ were filled and taught the people with emotions and intellect. In my opinion, Professor Frame states correctly
The mental capacities play an important role in ethical thought and action. The whole person – reason, emotion, conscience, imagination, will, and so forth – all work together and makes ethical decisions. I agree with Professor Frame that all of these faculties are “perspective on one another and on the whole person.” Conscience, intellect, experience, emotion, imagination and so forth are perspectives on the moral decision of the whole person.
In general, the heart is the “center” of all human’s being. The heart is the chief organ of moral knowledge, our moral will, and our desire to obey God. Even more, the heart is what God sees and governs the fundamental direction of human life. God places His knowledge and obedience inside the human heart and they nourish one another.
Nonetheless, all of our human faculties such as emotion, intellect, and heart are fallen and must be redeemed by God’s grace. Un-regenerated human organs are quite different from regenerated ones. Un-regenerated humans have a natural bent or disposition toward evil and wickedness. Through the Holy Spirit and the saving grace of Jesus Christ, God gives humans a new disposition, so that we feel different and our emotions, heart, intellect, will and so forth now belong to God. Only by God’s grace can humans use their whole person to make right ethical decisions. Our organs – conscience, intellect, experience, emotion, imagination and so forth – are perspectives on the moral decisions of the whole person. As Professor Frame noted, these faculties have a hermeneutical component because they discover and express meaning in the situations of life.
Moreover, all the human organs – will, intellect, emotions and so forth – play a positive role in the Christian life and ethics. The Scriptures appeals to all aspects of our personality, including the mind, will, and emotions (see e.g., Ezekiel 33:11; Psalm 42:1-6). Many great people of the Scriptures, including the apostle Paul, the apostle John, and even Jesus Christ were filled and taught the people with emotions and intellect. In my opinion, Professor Frame states correctly
Scripture does not warrant any notion of the “primacy of the intellect.” For one thing, Scripture does not even distinguish between intellect, will, and emotions, as distinct “faculties” of the mind. . . . Therefore, it never exhorts us to bring our decisions and feelings into conformity with our intellect. . . . Scripture teaches that God’s grace saves us as whole persons. Our thinking, acting, and feelings are all changed by regeneration. God’s grace leads us to seek conformity with God’s Word. The important thing is not to bring our emotions into line with our intellect, but to bring both our emotions and our intellect into line with God’s Word.
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